Now that's Significant Michael Howard

This episode of the Now That's Significant podcast features a conversation between Michael Howard, Head of Marketing at and photos, and Horst Feldhaeuser, Group Services Director at Infotools. They delve into the critical topic of brand tracking studies and their continued relevance in the ever-changing market research landscape. The discussion centers around the need for constant review and improvement of these studies to ensure they remain effective and insightful. 


Horst emphasizes the importance of adapting to evolving consumer demographics and utilizing technology advancements. He highlights the need to move beyond traditional survey methods and embrace new data collection techniques, such as passive data and social media analysis. Additionally, he stresses the significance of streamlining data delivery processes and leveraging advanced analytics tools to extract meaningful insights efficiently. 


The conversation underscores the balance between maintaining consistency in tracking studies while also embracing necessary changes. Horst encourages industry professionals to challenge the status quo and actively seek innovative solutions to enhance the quality and effectiveness of brand tracking studies. He emphasizes the ultimate goal of supporting informed business decisions and maximizing the value of these studies in today's dynamic market environment. 


Top 5 Takeaways:


**Brand tracking studies remain relevant but require continuous evaluation and improvement.


**Adapting to changing consumer demographics and leveraging new technologies is crucial.


**Explore alternative data collection methods like passive data and social media analysis.


**Streamline data delivery and utilize advanced analytics tools for efficient insights.


**Embrace change and challenge the status quo to enhance the value of brand tracking studies.


Want to learn more about the evolving world of market research? Be sure to subscribe to "Now That's Significant" and check out other insightful episodes!


We hope you enjoy the show.


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Infotools Harmoni is a fit-for-purpose market research analysis, visualization, and reporting platform that gives the world’s leading brands the tools they need to better understand their consumers, customers, organization, and market.


Established in 1990, we work with some of the world’s top brands around the world, including Coca-Cola, Orange, Samsung, and Mondelēz.


Our powerful cloud-based platform, Harmoni, is purpose-built for market research. From data processing to investigation, dashboards to collaboration, Harmoni is a true "data-to-decision-making" solution for in-house corporate insights teams and agencies.


While we don't facilitate market research surveys, we make it easy for to find and share compelling insights that go over-and-above what stakeholders want, inspiring them to act decisively.


One of the most powerful features of Harmoni is Discover is a time-tested, time-saving, and investigative approach to data analysis. Using automated analyses to reveal patterns and trends, Discover minimizes potential research bias by removing the need for requesting and manually analyzing scores of cumbersome crosstabs – often seeing what you can’t.


Discover helps you easily find what differentiates groups that matter to you, uncover what makes them unique, and deliver data points that are interesting, relevant, and statistically significant, plus see things others can’t. Add to all this an impending GenAI feature, and you have an extremely powerful, future-proofed tool.

On this episode of Now that’s Significant - a market research podcast host, Michael Howard is joined by Michaela Gascon, the Executive Board Member at MREF, also known as Marketing Research Education Foundation. Michaela is also the President and CEO of KJT Group, a WIRe mentor, and 20 Deep Winery based in Mendon, New York.


Michaela came onto the show to discuss one of the fantastic ways that market researchers can give back to the community - The Race Around The World For Education, run by MREF.


For those who may not know, MREF's mission is to unify, inspire & activate the marketing research community to focus its collective resources to educate children and youth worldwide.


In the brief discussion, Michaela shares some great perspectives on the event, how it can help the community, and why it's a good thing for market researchers to get involved. One of the interesting points that came up was how many times around the earth market researchers had travelled as part of the event. You'd be surprised!


If you want to get involved, you can sign up here Race Around the World for Education (runsignup.com)


If you want to check out the work that MREF is doing around the world, jump onto their website here Home | MREF (mrgivesback.org).


We hope you enjoy the episode (and get involved as well).


***


Infotools Harmoni is a fit-for-purpose market research analysis, visualization, and reporting platform that gives the world’s leading brands the tools they need to better understand their consumers, customers, organization, and market.


Established in 1990, we work with some of the world’s top brands around the world, including Coca-Cola, Orange, Samsung, and Mondelēz.


Our powerful cloud-based platform, Harmoni, is purpose-built for market research. From data processing to investigation, dashboards to collaboration, Harmoni is a true "data-to-decision-making" solution for in-house corporate insights teams and agencies.


While we don't facilitate market research surveys, we make it easy for to find and share compelling insights that go over-and-above what stakeholders want, inspiring them to act decisively.


One of the most powerful features of Harmoni is Discover is a time-tested, time-saving, and investigative approach to data analysis. Using automated analyses to reveal patterns and trends, Discover minimizes potential research bias by removing the need for requesting and manually analyzing scores of cumbersome crosstabs – often seeing what you can’t.


Discover helps you easily find what differentiates groups that matter to you, uncover what makes them unique, and deliver data points that are interesting, relevant, and statistically significant, plus see things others can’t. Add to all this an impending GenAI feature, and you have an extremely powerful, future-proofed tool.

On this episode of Now that's Significant, host Michael Howard, is joined by Todd Horvitz, Head of Customer Insights at HP, who previously held senior insights roles at Disney, Wells Fargo, and Kantar.


The episode opens with the host quoting lines from David Bowie's song Changes, which setup a discussion on the changing nature of the market research industry, as witnessed by Todd. The rendition was not one to remember, but the discussion certainly was.


Talking points began focusing on the workplace in general, which included:


- The changing state of the workplace, especially from a technology perspective.


- The proliferation of the internet and mobile phones and tables.


- The rate at which business has sped up, innovation speeding up, and an obsession to maximize productivity.


- Diversity has also been a major change for the better too, with a greater number of perspectives feeding into the way we work and deliver value for society.


The discussion then moved on more specifically to market research.


- The way that market research and access to data has been democratized across organizations.


- DIY and smart analysis tools have increased the speed to insight on both the agency and corporate side


- We've had low engagement and increased fraudulent activity as people's time is increasingly taken up, and as bad actors attempt to game the system for financial gain.


- AI has threatened to take over jobs, while IT security teams scramble to ensure any access or use is done in a safe environment.


- AI has also provided a tool for market researchers to be more efficient in the way they work.


Reflecting on how to make the most of all this change, Todd reminded us we need to buy the right tools and have a clear plan on how you'll proceed. He touched on agile, and reinforced that while it's valuable, it's not for everyone.


Todd also touched on internal resistance that one may face when steering the organization away from historical ways of working.


Finally, Todd mentioned some things to do and not to do, both at work and outside of work, to help make yourself a better market researcher. Some important points worth remembering regardless of our time in the industry.


We hope you enjoy the episode.


***


Infotools Harmoni is a fit-for-purpose market research analysis, visualization, and reporting platform that gives the world’s leading brands the tools they need to better understand their consumers, customers, organization, and market.


Established in 1990, we work with some of the world’s top brands around the world, including Coca-Cola, Orange, Samsung, and Mondelēz.


Our powerful cloud-based platform, Harmoni, is purpose-built for market research. From data processing to investigation, dashboards to collaboration, Harmoni is a true "data-to-decision-making" solution for in-house corporate insights teams and agencies.


While we don't facilitate market research surveys, we make it easy for to find and share compelling insights that go over-and-above what stakeholders want, inspiring them to act decisively.


One of the most powerful features of Harmoni is Discover is a time-tested, time-saving, and investigative approach to data analysis. Using automated analyses to reveal patterns and trends, Discover minimizes potential research bias by removing the need for requesting and manually analyzing scores of cumbersome crosstabs – often seeing what you can’t.


Discover helps you easily find what differentiates groups that matter to you, uncover what makes them unique, and deliver data points that are interesting, relevant, and statistically significant, plus see things others can’t. Add to all this an impending GenAI feature, and you have an extremely powerful, future-proofed tool.

In this episode of Now that’s Significant, a market research podcast, host Michael Howard is joined by Jennifer Trich Kremer, UX Research Lead for Logitech's digital experience. Jennifer studies consumer shopping behaviors and user experience benchmarking to deliver actionable insights. Her expertise spans qualitative and quantitative research, including combining analytics, market, and user research data to tell a holistic user story.


Jennifer's focused on improving the user experience throughout her career, splitting time between design and research. Her work was integral in creating the first online ordering system for IBM, automating the manual printing process at Hewitt, and creating easy-to-use healthcare experiences. While her design experiences have been meaningful, she now focuses on research, data, and mentorship.


On the episode, Michael and Jennifer discuss how market researchers can make their work more impactful, ensuring it has a place in an organization, and how it can be presented to different audiences.


They also discuss Big Qual, where qualitative research is going, the three elements of today's qualitative research toolkit, and more.


We hope you enjoy.


***


Infotools Harmoni is a fit-for-purpose market research analysis, visualization, and reporting platform that gives the world’s leading brands the tools they need to better understand their consumers, customers, organization, and market.


Established in 1990, we work with some of the world’s top brands around the world, including Coca-Cola, Orange, Samsung, and Mondelēz.


Our powerful cloud-based platform, Harmoni, is purpose-built for market research. From data processing to investigation, dashboards to collaboration, Harmoni is a true "data-to-decision-making" solution for in-house corporate insights teams and agencies.


While we don't facilitate market research surveys, we make it easy for to find and share compelling insights that go over-and-above what stakeholders want, inspiring them to act decisively.


One of the most powerful features of Harmoni is Discover is a time-tested, time-saving, and investigative approach to data analysis. Using automated analyses to reveal patterns and trends, Discover minimizes potential research bias by removing the need for requesting and manually analyzing scores of cumbersome crosstabs – often seeing what you can’t.


Discover helps you easily find what differentiates groups that matter to you, uncover what makes them unique, and deliver data points that are interesting, relevant, and statistically significant, plus see things others can’t. Add to all this an impending GenAI feature, and you have an extremely powerful, future-proofed tool.

Host of Now that's Significant Michael Howard is joined by Benoit Tranzer, the Global Service Line Leader for Brand Health Tracking at Ipsos.


In this conversation, Michael and Benoit discuss the current landscape of brand tracking, how it has evolved due to the apparent never-ending chaos in a global context, and how brand tracking can help organizations to navigate through to complexity to a new order where they can thrive.


The chaos referred to in the podcast is mainly characterized by overlapping crises, which can make consumers feel overwhelmed and disheartened. The two highlighted that brands and market researchers are operating within this context and their work is now more important than ever.


Benoit discusses how brand tracking needs to evolve in response to the current chaotic global context and how brands can achieve success by shaping expectations, integrating context, and acting with empathy.


The podcast episode also touches on how the role of AI and advanced technology in brand tracking, whilst emphasizing the importance of human creativity and curiosity, and how AI can be used to challenge human assumptions and improve decision-making.


We hope you enjoy the episode.


***


Infotools Harmoni is a fit-for-purpose market research analysis, visualization, and reporting platform that gives the world’s leading brands the tools they need to better understand their consumers, customers, organization, and market.


Established in 1990, we work with some of the world’s top brands around the world, including Coca-Cola, Orange, Samsung, and Mondelēz.


Our powerful cloud-based platform, Harmoni, is purpose-built for market research. From data processing to investigation, dashboards to collaboration, Harmoni is a true "data-to-decision-making" solution for in-house corporate insights teams and agencies.


While we don't facilitate market research surveys, we make it easy for to find and share compelling insights that go over-and-above what stakeholders want, inspiring them to act decisively.


One of the most powerful features of Harmoni is Discover is a time-tested, time-saving, and investigative approach to data analysis. Using automated analyses to reveal patterns and trends, Discover minimizes potential research bias by removing the need for requesting and manually analyzing scores of cumbersome crosstabs – often seeing what you can’t.


Discover helps you easily find what differentiates groups that matter to you, uncover what makes them unique, and deliver data points that are interesting, relevant, and statistically significant, plus see things others can’t. Add to all this an impending GenAI feature, and you have an extremely powerful, future-proofed tool.

On this episode of Now that’s Significant, a Market Research Podcast host Horst Feldhaeuser, Group Services Director at Infotools, is joined by Michelle Andre, Managing Director, and Jessica Sage, Marketing & Events Director, at Women in Research - commonly referred to as WIRe.


Michelle and Jessica were both happy to come onto the podcast to talk about WIRe, its 18-year history, what it's known for, what it's not, and that WIRe are FINALLY launching a city event chapter in Auckland!


Horst also reflects on his time as a WIRe mentor, which prompts a good discussion on the role of mentorship as well as how much of a need there are for senior mentors in the market research sector to help guide those who have recently joined the sector.


We hope you enjoy the episode.


***


Infotools Harmoni is a fit-for-purpose market research analysis, visualization, and reporting platform that gives the world’s leading brands the tools they need to better understand their consumers, customers, organization, and market.


Established in 1990, we work with some of the world’s top brands around the world, including Coca-Cola, Orange, Samsung, and Mondelēz.


Our powerful cloud-based platform, Harmoni, is purpose-built for market research. From data processing to investigation, dashboards to collaboration, Harmoni is a true "data-to-decision-making" solution for in-house corporate insights teams and agencies.






While we don't facilitate market research surveys, we make it easy for to find and share compelling insights that go over-and-above what stakeholders want, inspiring them to act decisively.






One of the most powerful features of Harmoni is Discover is a time-tested, time-saving, and investigative approach to data analysis. Using automated analyses to reveal patterns and trends, Discover minimizes potential research bias by removing the need for requesting and manually analyzing scores of cumbersome crosstabs – often seeing what you can’t.


Discover helps you easily find what differentiates groups that matter to you, uncover what makes them unique, and deliver data points that are interesting, relevant, and statistically significant, plus see things others can’t. Add to all this an impending GenAI feature, and you have an extremely powerful, future-proofed tool.